Khlong Lat Mayom: Bangkok Floating Wonderland

After my night at Bar Pink Cadillac, I’m hungover and the two things needed – sleep and darkness – are in short supply.

Figuring I’ll sleep when I’m dead, I get a Grab taxi to Khlong Lat Mayom floating market.

There’s a lingering stench on me, but it’s not last night’s leeriness. It’s the overpowering citrus smell of the mosquito repellent wristbands I got at a sporting goods store in Los Angeles. The last time I was in Bangkok, I was absolutely destroyed by bugs. I was hell bent not to endure a similar fate this time, but the heat and hangover and stop-start nature of the Bangkok traffic, combined with the Citronella scent, is just making me feel a bit nauseous. I need food.

The Grab driver wants to take me 100 kilometres out into the country, to another floating market. He says he knows better places than Khlong Lat Mayom, but he doesn’t know that being awake is a minor miracle right now. We’re staying the course.

It takes between 35 and 45 minutes to reach Khlong Lat Mayom floating market from Sukhumvit Road in the middle of Bangkok. The journey takes us past temples and government buildings, down boulevards with monuments, statues and tributes, onto highways and back into side streets. The market is tucked into a nondescript neighbourhood beyond the intersection of two major highways, but until you turn the corner and see the mass of people gathered outside, you wouldn’t know it’s there.

The driver drops me off at a part of the market that sells housewares. I’ve tried to come as early as possible, both to avoid heat and crowds. It’s clear though that even in the early hours of operation, the action isn’t here. The action is, as always, where there’s food.

What they say is right – this is less a floating market in the traditional sense (where you’re on boats/being served from people cooking on boats) – than a really good food market. There’s a canal alongside the market, with boat tours being operated for tourists on loud, motorized 20 seaters. It’s mostly farang on those. Mostly, this is a market for locals, and at least early in the day, there aren’t many tourists. So, while my Grab Driver may have wanted to bring me to a more popular destination, I’m pretty happy taking the road less traveled.

I’d say that if there’s an overwhelming smell throughout the food stalls and the market in general, it’s that of coconut milk. The temptation, of course, is to eat a little of all of everything.

After taking a meandering lap through the narrow walkways of the market, I found a lady specialising a vegetable-heavy dishes. I selected her as the first merchant whose wares I would sample in the ultimate quest of bringing myself back to life.

She created a marvellous salad from an incredible assortment of fresh vegetables (above). This peanut and vegetable dish with hard boiled egg and shrimp mixed in was just the ticket to get up and running. It was heavy on the fish sauce to be sure, but an altogether light and delightful appetizer. It was a meal crafted with love, using the famous Thai wooden pestle I had been told about the evening before.

A seasoned pork-smith was operating directly next to the vegetable salad stall. The proprietor (see featured image atop post) served up a choice of stews as well as chopped pork accompanied by cucumbers and a chili sauce. I opted for the latter selection. It was a popular stall, with all items prepared to order and on the spot. The gentleman chef sliced fine, yet juicy cuts of pork and served a dish that looked exactly as had been advertised. At 100 baht (approximately USD $3), it was an absolute treasure of a meal and the possibly the best plate I experienced that morning.

Khlong Lat Mayom extends quite far beyond the food stalls in every direction. Beyond the bamboo table and seating area, there is a parking lot, and beyond the parking lot there is yet more market. Needing a break from food at this point, I took a stroll around the market, checking out the various wares on show, and observing the items that others were purchasing to try and make sure I wasn’t missing out on anything. Here you’ll find clothes, board games, kitchen supplies, housewares, and most other things that you’d expect to find at a local market.

Let’s be clear though: there is so much good food here that it is impossible to stop and savour absolutely everything that you will want to try. My advice is to walk around as much as possible, to talk to the various vendors, and to sample smaller dishes (if you can restrain yourself). This way, you can get as many different tastes as possible without feeling too full.

After taking a walk down the side of the river and traversing a bridge separating two sides of the market, I return to the food stands to find the foot traffic starting to increase. I immediately made for a stall serving fried chicken cuts for 40 baht (about USD $1.25). This crispy, fatty, salty, delicious pile of perfectly seasoned meat killed off the remainder of whatever hangover I had left. I was feeling pretty full by this point, but didn’t want the experience to pass me by, so I decided to have a go at one more unique taste. Would it be the fragrant salted fish, or the grilled oysters and scallops, or the sticks full of tiny squid bits?

None of the above. Instead, upon discovering a coconut jelly stand (pictured above), I took the sweeter option. The stall featured a number of trays on ice, full of impeccably decorated cups of jelly dessert. The ladies operating the stand informed me that each cup was flavoured with a different fruit jelly which was sandwiched in between layers of coconut jelly. This was then topped by a decorative animal. I opted for a blue whale atop a green apple and coconut jelly treat. The stand offered bulk deals, but at this point I needed to tap out and begin the long, smoggy journey back to central Bangkok.

Overall, The Misty Seas highly recommends the journey to Khlong Lat Mayom floating market. Budget around 300 Baht ($10) each way if travelling via Grab taxi, and up to an hour to make the journey from the centre of the city. A couple hours at the market itself should give you quite a bit of the experience and plenty of food. Leave more time if you decide to opt for one of the tourist-oriented canal tours. While we’ll look to cover other markets in the Bangkok area in the future on the site, Khlong Lat Mayom is certainly a market worth returning to over and over again.